


After the Fall

by orphan_account



Series: Trust Me 'Verse [2]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Buzzfeed: Worth It (Web Series)
Genre: Angel Andrew, Demon Ryan, Demon Steven, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-19 22:29:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14247099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A new resident of Hell catches the eye of a young demon.





	After the Fall

**Author's Note:**

> This is a timestamp for Trust Me, set after the original fic. Spoilers for the original Trust Me fic. This _could_ turn into a longer fic or a series of timestamps depending on if you guys like it!

“It can be a little startling,” Steven said, fixing his shirt as he and Ryan walked across the quiet field. It was right outside the main city - now grown enough and stable enough to be named, Infernium - but it felt miles away. The shack was fast approaching, and the weight of all the pain hit Ryan like a hammer.

“Thousands of souls. Every week,” Ryan whispered.

“Every day, honestly. But you’re the prince now, Tadpole. You gotta learn.”

“I don’t even know when that happened to be honest,” Ryan admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck.

Even after all these years, the power coursing through his veins was strange to him, an alien feeling that he never thought he’d get used to. His powers were nearly an even match for Shane’s at this point, and defense skills were growing with Maze’s surprisingly patient training. But he still had centuries of learning to do. And he had the time. He had eternity.

“Look, I’m a demon and even I don’t know how your human butt whupped the prince of Hell. But I know he loves you. And you two are pretty much married. I mean if marriage wasn’t kind of God’s thing. Whatever demons do that’s like marriage.”

Ryan laughed a little. Steven was the last demon Lucifer created before he hung up the metaphorical tools — before Ryan, that was. This made them the closest in age, even if they were separated by centuries.

“I guess so. He’s pretty much perfect. I don’t know. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“It won’t,” Steven assured him.

“I hope you’re right... Eternity as a demon without him... I can’t really imagine it.”

Steven smiled patiently as they reached the shed. “You ready?”

“What do we even do?”

“Just watch me, okay? You’ll start to pick it up after a while. And don’t scare them. Approach slowly, give them space. Remember how spooked you were when you first arrived — this is a thousand times worse for them.”

Ryan nodded.

They stood quietly for a moment until the door of the shed opened slowly. Ryan didn’t know what he was expecting to walk through the door – but it certainly wasn’t the blonde man, facial features eerily similar to the face of the angel that still haunted Ryan’s nightmares.

His face was beaten and bruised on one side, flesh torn away to reveal muscle and bone. His outfit was one Ryan was familiar with; a delicate purple weave of the angel uniforms. His was a cloak rather than a full uniform, his bare chest underneath bruised and cut as badly as his face. His pants were the same material as the cloak, his feet bare and already dirty from the harsh terrain of Hell.

“Please—” He whispered, stumbling backwards. The light glinted off his bright, frightened eyes – the colors shifting as he looked around. Blue, green, grey, brown, there was no set color Ryan could place. It was mesmerizing, even through the unshed tears the angel carried.

“It’s okay,” Steven said quickly. He took no notice of the angel’s deformities or attire. “You’re safe here.”

“No, this is H—I shouldn’t _be_ here. I’m an angel,” The angel cried, shoving Steven’s hands off him. He took off down the dirt path, headed toward the city.

“What do we do?” Ryan asked, his heart thudding a panicked beat against his ribs.

“We let him go. The townspeople – they’re used to this.”

“That’s an angel. It wasn’t a Workman, he’s still got his legs, no scars.”

“Sometimes – It’s rare, but sometimes regular angels are fallen as well. We don’t know what he did, and we can’t push it. Come on. They’ll be wrangling him.”

“Wrangling him?”

Steven shrugged, turning and trudging back down the path.

At the start of the town proper, a group of residents were in a half circle, each preventing the panicked angel from entering further.

“See? Wrangling.”

“I’d say shepherding.”

“Too Godly.” Steven shrugged, stepping up to the angel. His entire body shimmered in the firelike sunset, shifting in between his true demon form and the human form most of the demons preferred.

The angel turned around as Steven’s form settled, his skin obscured by pastel colored feathers, soft and fluffy. It blended with his already dyed hair, reminding Ryan a little of cockatoos up on Earth. Wings furled from his back, covered in the same feathers of pastel, spring colors. His feet were talons, digging small holes in the dirt.

“Be still,” he murmured, holding his hands – fingers ending in claws very similar to Shane’s – up in surrender. “No one will harm you.”

“I don’t belong here,” the angel whispered.

“No one does.”

“Look what they _did_ to me,” the angel sobbed, motioning to his mutilated face. Steven only smiled.

“Things are very different – down here and uptown. You should learn.”

“I don’t _belong_ here.”

“Up there,” Steven continued, as if the angel hadn’t spoken, “they fluff up their feathers,” he let his wings rise a little, laughing to himself. “and every collar is creased. Down here, we claw in the mud, we swing with both fists, we work to make our living.”

The angel backed up, running into a resident, her face stitched up from ear to ear. He whimpered a little, looking back to Steven as he continued.

“Up there they sprinkle sweetener, drink nectar from the vine. Down here we dig in with our fingers, tear at the bone. Scrape and scrap – We’re hungry and we’re in need but we’re happy. Happier than that place.”

“No, I—”

Steven continued. “We claw in the mud, we walk on stained glass, spit in the faces of them,” he motioned up at the sky. “We’re sinners – one and all…” Steven hesitated, reaching out and brushing his fingers over the angel’s ruined face. “But it’s always the prettiest after the fall.”

The angel shook his head, looking around at the group of people and demons that had formed a loose circle around him. Ryan noticed for the first time, a cross necklace dangling from the angel’s neck. It glinted in the low light, silver and shining. One of the demons reached up, grabbing a similar necklace. He ripped it from his own neck, throwing it on the ground. Around the angel and Steven, others did the same. Steven continued to speak soft and soothing, promising a hard, but fulfilling eternity. The angel met his gaze for a moment, eyes dropping to the cross dangling around Steven’s feathered neck. He reached up and yanked it off, holding it up so the angel could see.

“It’s _always_ prettiest after the Fall,” Steven whispered. The angel touched his own necklace. With shaking hands, he jerked it off his throat. Both dropped them to the ground, where they bubbled for moment and melted into the ground, as if they’d never been there in the first place.

“What’s your name?”

“A-- Andrew,” the angel whispered.  
“Andrew. My name is Steven. I’m a demon. And this is Ryan - he’s the prince around here.”

“Ry-- Ryan?” Andrew’s eyes widened. “You’re dead.”

“I almost was,” Ryan said softly, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Lucifer saved me. He can fix your face too, you know.”

Andrew touched his wrecked cheek. “They did this to me. They--“

“Shh... You don’t need to talk about it, not right now. Do you want to walk a little? Talk? Or do you want to meet Lucifer right away?” Steven asked.

“I’m scared,” Andrew admitted.

“Then we’ll just talk a while. Let me show you the town.” He offered his hand to the frightened angel, shifting back into his more human form. Andrew smiled a little.

“Your-- I guess your true form?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“It’s kinda cute. I didn’t expect a demon bird.”

“Hey, I like my feathers,” Steven said, his face breaking into a grin when Andrew relaxed a little more.

“Come on, let’s talk a little. I’ll show you the town. You’re going to like it here, Andrew.”

“I feel like I might,” Andrew said, not moving his gaze from Steven’s face. “It is kinda beautiful.”

Steven smirked a little. He grabbed Andrew’s hand and led him down the path, still gazing at each other as they talked quietly.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos are my payment! I love you guys, let me know what you think!


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